Neville and Luna at the Yule Ball
by KodiakFangirl
Summary: Any Nuna shippers who have Tumblr know of the picture of Neville with a Ravenclaw scarf during the Triwizard Tournament's second task and that some believe it is Luna's. I wrote a story making that possible where Neville and Luna meet at the Yule Ball. It's kind of fluffy and made for any other people who really ship Neville and Luna! :) :D 3


Mimi Ginsburg

How Neville and Luna Really Met

He was surprised she said yes. Everyone knew she had a crush on Harry, but he guessed she knew that Harry wasn't going to ask her. She may have been a year younger than him but she was definitely out of his league. Neville decided that logic didn't matter. He was going to the Yule Ball with Ginny and that was that. He loved dancing he had been practicing dancing alone often since McGonagall held an instructional with all of the Gryffindors. He was probably looking forward to the ball more than any guy in the school and he couldn't wait for it to happen.

On the night of the ball Neville put on his robes, which looked like a long tuxedo, and smiled into the mirror. He didn't look amazing, but he wasn't expecting to. He wanted to be there early, because he didn't want to miss a thing. When he arrived he saw that Ginny wasn't there yet. Neville kept waiting, but she didn't get there for quite a while. He understood if she wasn't as excited as him. He wasn't exactly anyone's dream date. A little bit before the ball officially started she arrived. She was wearing a green and pink dress. She had most of her hair down, except for two small braids that met at the back of her head. Neville thought she looked nice. She smiled politely at him and said, "hi." Neville replied, "hey," with a much wider smile. Ginny sat down next to him and looked away at Harry who was at the front of the room with Pavarti Patil, his date. He saw the look in her eyes and knew that she really wanted to be the one dancing with him.

The music began and the four Triwizard Tournament competitors and their partners began dancing. Ginny's eyes followed Harry and Pavarti around, so Neville watched them too. Harry was much less graceful than the other competitors, butt that wasn't very surprising. After the first song ended more people began filling the dance floor. Neville wanted to be one of the first. He took Ginny's hand and led her to the dance floor. She went along willingly, but continued to look at Harry. She danced well and that made Neville happy. Harry didn't stay on the dance floor much longer and Neville worried that when he left Ginny would too, but she was respectful and kept dancing with him.

They had stopped a couple times so they could have punch and snacks, but Ginny seemed disinterested pretty much the whole night. "You can leave if you want to," Neville told her several times and after a couple hours she finally listened, "goodnight," Ginny faked a smile, it was small and did not travel to her eyes, "this was fun. Thanks for asking me." She gave him a hug and left. Neville wasn't too upset she left, he decided. She was a nice girl, very pretty, but they didn't really connect. Neville wanted to keep dancing but he felt odd dancing by himself in a crowd; it wasn't the same as in his room where only his friends could see him. He sat down on the side and watched the people dance. There were obvious couples almost in perfect sync and groups of friends just having a good time. After a minute or two Neville spotted something that really caught his eye.

There was a girl in a brightly colored dress that was clearly handmade, stitched from many random swatches of fabric, with long dirty blond hair and what looked like fruit or vegetable earrings. She was dancing by herself almost in a daze. She was smiling looking down with her hands out as if she were holding an invisible partner. Neville summoned every bit of courage he had and walked over to her. "Hey," he said tapping her shoulder, "would you mind if I danced with you?" The girl looked up. She had beautiful silvery blue eyes, "No I don't mind," she said with a soft voice." Neville smiled and took her hand and waist and they began dancing.

The girl still seemed to be in a bit of a trance, but unlike Ginny she was looking at him. "I'm Neville. Neville Longbottom. What's your name?" The girl smiled a bit more widely, "I'm Luna Lovegood. It's nice to meet you Neville." Neville thought she had a beautiful smile the way it lit up her whole face making her eyes sparkle and it seemed truly sincere. The two of them danced away the night and talked about all sorts of things. It turned out Luna was one year below Neville in Ravenclaw and she actually seemed interested in Neville's extensive herbology knowledge. She told him about her dad being editor of the Quibbler and about her favorite creature: Nargles. Neville had never been happier in his life. The two of them stayed there dancing until McGonagall came in her nightgown, a silver, long sleeved gown made of silk that went all the way down to the floor, and told everyone to go to bed.

Neville didn't stop smiling his entire way back to his room and he danced with himself a bit as he got undressed and into his pajamas. He lay in bed, still smiling, replaying the night in his head over and over again. Luna was such a spectacular person! He really hoped he would see her again. Eventually he drifted off to sleep. When he woke up the next morning he woke up and instantly smiled again remembering the events of the night before and knowing they were not a dream. For the next week whenever he had free time he would hang out with Luna. He often brought her down by the lake and told her about the plants that were growing around the water. Luna told him about what new thing the Nargles had stole from her and about whatever news showed up in the Quibbler. By the end of the week they were quite close, and Luna even gave Neville her Ravenclaw scarf to wear around the school and Neville gave her his Gryffindor one.


End file.
